1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk device that drives an optical disk (for example, a CD-R, a CD-RW, a DVD-R, a DVD-RW, a DVD+R, a DVD+RW, a DVD-RAM or the like) serving as a recording medium for recording a large amount of information in an information apparatus such as various computer systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a disk device for driving an optical disk is built in a personal computer or the like. Recently, the personal computers are becoming smaller in size and thickness, consequently the size and thickness of the disk device has also decreased. The three general loading types of the optical disk in a disk device, are as follows: 1) a loading type that loads the optical disk in the disk device; 2) a type that directly loads the optical disk on a clamp head of a disk tray; and 3) a slot-in type that inserts the optical disk from a front bezel.
In the disk device of the slot-in type, the loading of the optical disk on a main body of the disk device is performed in such a manner that an operator inserts a portion of the optical disk in the slot of the front bezel, a loading mechanism provided in the disk device operates, and the optical disk is automatically loaded. Accordingly, since the disk device of the slot-in type does not employ the disk tray, it is considered as the most effective type in achieving the small size and thickness of the disk device.
FIGS. 37 to 39 show a structure of the loading mechanism in the disk device of the slot-in type according to the related art and its operation aspect. In the structure shown in the drawings, if the operator inserts the optical disk D into the slot of the front bezel, the optical disk D reaches the position shown in FIG. 37 while the height direction, and left and right positions thereof are guided by a front end pin 100a of a first rocking body 100, left and right guide bodies 101 and 102, and a front end pin 103a of a second rocking body 103.
At this time, the front end pin 100a is pressed by the optical disk D, so that the first rocking body 100 rotates in the direction of arrow 10A. Further, the front end 103a is pressed by the optical disk D, so that the second rocking body 103 also rotates in direction of arrow 103A. Furthermore, a switch lever 104 is pressed by the end of the second rocking body 103 and rotates in direction of arrow 104A so as to operate a detection switch 105.
When the detection switch 105 is operated, a driving unit 106 is driven, and a first slide member 107 starts to move in the direction of arrow 107A. Each of the first slide member 107 and second slide member 108 has its front end connected to a slide connecting member 109. Since the slide connecting member 109 is pivotally supported by a pin 110 so as to be rocked on the pin 110, the second slide member 108 moves in direction of arrow 108A in synchronization with the backward movement of the first slide member 107.
In this way, if the first slide member 107 starts to move backward, the first rocking body rotates in a direction of arrow 100B. Thereby, the front end pin 100a of the first rocking body 100 carries in the optical disk D in the direction of arrow 107A until the optical disk D comes into contact with pins 111a and 111b of a disk positioning member 111 (see FIG. 38).
At this time, since the pin 103a of the second rocking body 103 rotates in the direction of arrow 103A, the pin 103a of the second rocking body 103 is synchronized with the front end pin 100a of the first rocking body 100 and rotates to a position which is slightly spaced apart from the optical disk D after the optical disk D comes into contact with the pins 111a and 111b of the disk positioning member 111.
The operation aspect of the loading mechanism when the optical disk D is loaded in the disk device has been described. However, in the case when the optical disk D is unloaded from the disk device, the loading mechanism has a reverse operation compared with the above-mentioned operation. That is, when the optical disk D is located at a predetermined position in the disk device, if the driving unit 106 is driven in a reverse rotation direction in response to an unloading instruction, the first slide member 107 starts to move in the direction of arrow 107B, and the second slide member 108 connected to the slide connecting member 109 is synchronized with the first slide member 107 and starts to move in the direction of arrow 108B. Thereby, since the first rocking body 100 rotates in the direction of arrow 100A and the second rocking body 103 rotates in the direction of arrow 103B, the optical disk D is pivotally supported by the respective front end pins 100a and 103a of the first and second rocking bodies 100 and 103 and is then unloaded from the disk device.
In addition, the optical disk D loaded in the disk device is clamped by a clamp head 112 which moves in a vertical direction at a predetermined position. The clamp head 112 is integrated with a turn table 113 fixed to a driving shaft of a spindle motor 114, and the spindle motor 114 is disposed on an elevating frame 115 such that the elevating frame 115 moves in a vertical direction through the elevating mechanism. The elevating mechanism has cam grooves formed at sides of the first and second slide members 107 and 108 having the same clamp shape as shown in FIGS. 39A, 39B, and 39C, and the elevating frame 115 moves in a vertical direction through the horizontal movement of the first and second slide members 107 and 108.
FIGS. 39A, 39B, and 39C illustrate a portion of the first slide member 107. In this case, driven pins 116a and 116b fixed to the elevating frame 115 are locked in the cam grooves 107a and 107b. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 39A, when the driven pins 116a and 116b are located at the lower portions of the cam grooves 107a and 107b, the elevating frame 115 enters at its most descending state. In addition, as the first slide member 107 moves horizontally in the direction of arrow 107A, the driven pins 116a and 116b ascend along the inclined portions of the cam grooves 107a and 107b. As a result, the elevating frame 115 ascends, such that the clamp head 112 clamps the optical disk D at the highest locations of the cam grooves 107a and 107b as shown in FIG. 39B and the optical disk D is fixed on the turn table 113. If the first slide member 107 further moves in the direction of arrow 107A in the above-mentioned state, the driven pins 116a and 116b slightly descend from the highest portions of the cam grooves 107a and 107b and are then stopped, as shown in FIG. 39C. The optical disk D can be driven.
As such, in the case in which the disk device has the above-mentioned structure, it is required that a stroke width of the vertical movement is ensured such that the clamp head descends to the position where the optical disk can be loaded and then ascends to the position where the clamp head can clamp the optical disk. For this reason, in the elevating mechanism of the disk device according to the related art, the elevating frame moves in a horizontal direction as described above. However, since the stroke width of the vertical movement of the elevating frame is always constant, if a thickness of the elevating frame increases, the total thickness of the disk device increases. In addition, the mechanism for moving the elevating frame in a horizontal direction becomes complicated, making it difficult to achieve the small size and thickness of the disk device.